This article first appeared in Village magazine, June/July/August 2024 edition
Two new journalism schemes could point the way to a path for a revamp of public service journalism and reporting in the coming months.
Coimisiún na Meán invited submissions on the local democracy reporting fund and courts reporting funds in Spring, and is now assessing those submissions and where to go next.
The funds were to have been among the first projects from the Coimisiún after it took over from the Broadcasting Authority, but were delayed over legal wrangles about copyright and state supports, now resolved.
Meanwhile, most news headlines about Coimisiún na Meán in recent months concentrated on the new online safety code from the Coimisiún, guidance issued for election candidates facing online attacks, and reports of proposals coming down the line for an updated guide to elections coverage offering the possibility of reforms covering everything from the broadcast moratorium to increased oversight of political advertising.
However the two funds, with the possibility of others to follow “supporting public interest journalism reporting on matters of public interest which are less reported, or at risk of under provision”, have the potential to reinvigorate the Irish media landscape and offer a unique opportunity to improve civil society in Ireland.
As outlined in the report of the Commission on the Future of Journalism, news media in Ireland as elsewhere face extraordinary pressures. Indeed, the situation has grown even more complex since the Commission delivered their report, published in 2022.
Misinformation and disinformation continue to rise, in part because individual journalists are overstretched due to newsroom cutbacks, and increasingly because of the propagation of false news, “pink slime” and other disinformation tactics by various bad faith actors ranging from single interest groups to far right extremists and sometimes sovereign states intent on spreading propaganda.
Against this background, the need for accurate and timely reporting is more necessary than even, hence the schemes are particularly welcome.
The schemes offer an opportunity not only to support news media, but to encourage novel reporting models. To achieve this, the Coimisiún should be imaginative in the rage of proposals they are willing to consider.
While it is tempting to look to well-established media outlets as the recipients of funding from the Schemes, the aim of the schemes is to support reportage, not media owners.
With that in mind, serious consideration should be given to submissions from new entrants, in particular those including freelance journalists with an established record of reporting. Support should also be provided to groups of journalists in setting up new entities to avail of the schemes, for example using partnerships, co-operatives, or other corporate structures.
The Coimisiún should look at ways to simplify and streamline the application procedures for the schemes, in order to encourage participation. This would include, but is not limited to ensuring the use of ‘plain English’ and pretesting application forms to identify any ‘bugs’ which affect ease of use.
However, all of this may be for naught if the Coimisiún follows the usual practice of accepting the lowest bids on its schemes, an approach which is penny-wise but pound foolish if it results in inferior and underfunded services. To this end, serious consideration must be given to the issue of compensation for reporters under the scheme.
In March 2024, UK news outlets reported an NUJ investigation found low pay caused almost a third of journalists to flee a flagship BBC scheme to fund local newspaper coverage of councils and public interest news.
According to the NUJ, they showed that while the publishers are receiving funding from the BBC of £37,733 per filled LDR role (£39,953 in London), senior reporters employed under the scheme are receiving a BBC-set minimum of £24,055 or £26,242 in London.
The Local Democracy Reporters (LDR) scheme is funded by the BBC and the journalists are employed by local newspapers, and has similar objectives to the Schemes proposed by Coimisiún na Meán.
The funding schemes from Coimisiún na Meán must be more than financial aid to publishers and broadcasters. Their purpose must be to promote journalism, not subsidise media companies.
The experience in the UK shows that journalists cannot survive unless they are paid fairly for their time and experience. The Coimisiún should engage with the NUJ and other stakeholders in defining a satisfactory rates to compensate the journalists employed as a result of the scheme.The public monies spent to support public service journalism should go as much as possible to journalists, not to media owners.
An earlier version of this article formed the basis of a personal submission to Coimisiún na Mean on their proposals for the local democracy reporting and courts reporting funds in May 2024.
